An endoscope is a flexible device introduced into the body for diagnostic and/or therapeutic purposes. Typically, these devices are inserted into the body through an opening (a natural opening or an incision), and are delivered to a work site inside the body through a body cavity. Generally, such devices include an illumination device to illuminate a field of view at the work site, and an imaging device to allow a surgeon to see the work site from outside the body and remotely operate the endoscope to perform a desired diagnostic/therapeutic procedure at the work site.
In reusable endoscopes, a diffusing lens may be provided with the Illumination device at the distal end of the endoscope to project light evenly over the entire visualization field. Due to the differences in proximities, and other light reflecting characteristics of different locations within the field of view of the work site (such as, for example, differences in reflectivity of muscle and tissue), these different locations may appear to be Illuminated differently. For instance, some of these locations may appear to be oversaturated with light while other locations may appear to be insufficiently illuminated. The variation in illumination may make visualization of the work site difficult, and may therefore be undesirable. With small bore endoscopes, the cost of implementing a diffusing lens for even distribution of light may be high. While this cost may be less of an issue with reusable endoscopes where the cost can be amortized due to repeated usage, this cost may be prohibitively high in the case of disposable endoscopes. Therefore, the present disclosure is directed to systems and methods to optimize visualization by controlling distribution of light in a field of view within the body from outside the body.